The Parks Department’s deputy chief of operations, James Cafaro, exchanged inappropriate texts with subordinates, The Department of Investigation (DOI) said. The investigation found that Cafaro had 12,000 deleted images on his city-issued cell phone, several of which depicted male and female genitalia. It's the latest revelation springing from of the city's probe into raunchy Parks Department parties. (Photo: Joe Marino/New York Daily News)
Randall's Island
A Parks Department boss at the center of a scandal over a raunchy party featuring pole-dancing in an agency building was found to have 12,000 deleted pictures on his city-issued cell phone, several of which depicted male and female genitalia, according to city investigators.
James Cafaro, the Parks Department’s deputy chief of operations, gave his phone to officials as the city Department of Investigation probed a horndog holiday party held last year in a so-called “Boom Boom Room” at the agency’s 5-Boro facility on Randall’s Island, according to the New York Daily News.
Investigators found evidence that Cafaro had deleted several pictures of male and female genitalia, and also discovered images of what appeared to be a woman in a bikini, and an image of an unidentified female Parks Dept. employee in her uniform posing in a sexually suggestive way, according to a Department of Investigation report on sexual hijinks in the “Boom Boom Room.” The Daily News obtained a copy of the 11-page report through a Freedom of Information Law request.
The investigation began after The News reported exclusively in May on the booty-filled bashes in which workers said booze was flowing and Cafaro and Parks supervisor Angelo Figueroa encouraged female workers to bare their assets and shimmy on the pole.
The May 29 edition of the Daily News revealed the raunchy Parks Department parties
Through nearly five months of interviewing Parks staffers and poring over cell phone records, investigators substantiated claims from workers that a risqué soirée was held in the “Boom Boom Room” in Dec. 2012. The report called the down-low get-together “grossly inappropriate.” Investigators also said it was likely the notorious room was the site of parties prior to the December 2012 affair, but they noted witnesses couldn’t remember details due to “the large amount of alcohol they had consumed.”
Investigators did not find evidence to substantiate female workers’ accusations of sexual harassment and that bosses gave preferential treatment to those who were willing to “get on the pole.”
The News’ bombshell report in May also noted how two female Parks workers filed a report with Parks accusing Cafaro and Figueroa of harassing them through sexually charged phone messages. Both men were suspended by Parks on June 2.
A Parks Department worker dances on a stripper's pole inside the Randalls Island Parks garage.
The Parks Department notified DOI after receiving complaints of misconduct at the 5-Boro facility, according to a statement issued by agency spokesman Arthur Pincus.
“Parks has subsequently taken steps to address the misconduct,” the statement said, noting that Cafaro and Figueroa are both facing disciplinary action.
Cafaro, 53, initially cooperated with investigators. He said he had a “unique” and “off-kilter” management style that included sending “flirty” texts to female parks workers, according to the report.
In addition to providing his work-issued phone, the DOI report said he also handed over another phone that he said was for his personal use. It had no inappropriate material on it, the report noted.
During the investigation, the department learned Cafaro had a third phone that he tried to conceal by claiming it belonged to a neighbor named “Jack Cooper,” whom he said had moved away, according to the report.
Subpoenaed records show Cafaro used that phone to exchange numerous after-hours texts with one of his female subordinates, the report says. The phone was registered to a “Jim Cooper” at the address of the 5-Boro facility, where Cafaro was previously assigned.
The phone’s account was closed two days after The News’ May 28 report, according to investigators. When investigators asked about the “Cooper” phone, Cafaro stopped cooperating and got a lawyer, the report states.
Parks Supervisor Angelo Figueroa deleted six pictures of women’s breasts and buttocks from his city-issued cell phone.
Cafaro had denied knowing anything about the December 2012 party, the report says, but when confronted with evidence proving its existence he later admitted he’d been told about it. He said he didn’t attend, but instead sent Figueroa to look into it. Of the nine employees who admitted to being at the party, three said Cafaro was there, according to the report.
Figueroa, 49, spoke once with investigators before getting a lawyer and invoking his Fifth Amendment rights. He said he would talk in exchange for immunity, which investigators refused to offer.
Figueroa, who was found to have kept and then deleted six pictures of women’s breasts and buttocks on his work-issued cell phone, also denied attending the December party, the report notes. As with Cafaro, there were conflicting accounts from party attendees as to whether he was there. Some witnesses saw him there and others didn’t, while one said she was too drunk to remember, the report says.
The Parks Department’s statement said that Figueroa, following his suspension, was transferred to a new location where he does not have supervisory authority.
Cafaro, meanwhile, remains suspended “while Parks seeks to resolve his case.”
“In addition, Parks will pursue disciplinary measures against a few other employees whose misconduct was documented by DOI,” according to the statement.
The agency said it also enhanced training on matters of employee conduct and workplace standards.
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